'I Am Going to Die!'

It sounds very improbable of course: Me? Die? How could something so unexpected happen to someone like me! And yet - naturally - we're all in the process of dying, some of us faster than others. We would be wise to face up to the prospect as early and as regularly as we can.

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CREDITS

Produced in collaboration with:

Josh Saunders

[HatovimLeTayis]

I'm actively battling an anxiety disorder right now. What I've learned thus far: if you are constantly trying to survive, you forget to live.

[mysteryjunkie]

"This is your life, and its ending one minute at a time."-Tyler Durden (Fight Club)

[MuitoDaora]

I'm not afraid of death. I'm afraid that death is the end.

[thegossipswan]

This video is the shortest horror movie.

[Rainbow_Butterfly]

I always get depressed talking about this... Seriously, its a dark void that sometimes takes an hour or two to climb out of

[jakewilliams]

Stoicism teaches something along these lines. Epictetus advocated people should concern themselves with death, their death, vividly on a daily basis. It’s frightening at first and makes you pretty anxious, but after awhile, even death doesn’t bother you. And when death genuinely doesn’t bother you, well, what fears can truly exist?

[ellielindsey]

My mind is constantly searching for a new way I might be dying. It’s exhausting.

[cartercasteel]

Well I’m 4 minutes closer to death now I guess

[powerralley]

When your dead, you don't know it, can't reflect on it or think about it. Therefore all we have is life. In a way we are imortal because when your dead you can't be convinced otherwise.

[SelimxBradley]

One of my best friend's since I was in 6th grade (I'm 27 now) recently passed away on a vacation to another state when he was hit on his motorcycle by an 18 year old girl that had expired insurance, no seatbelt on, and was texting & driving. He was so excited for the trip and all the fun he would have with his buddies. I miss him and it's recently made me really think about my own mortality much more than I ever did before. This video game at the perfect time for me. Thank you

[Imrsk]

Jokes on you. I'm already dead on the inside

[theodorul]

just watching the first 30 seconds made me more anxious than 15 years of social pressure

[daraldlee]

Almost every night as I am about to fall asleep, I am hit with the sinking realization that every person I love will die, I will never see them again, and then a gripping certainty that before I know it, I will be on my deathbed and nothing of myself will be left as if I never were. The brief moment of terror passes and sleep takes me for another day, until no more days are left.

[mephistophelesthesilentchi]

Honestly, I find the idea that I will one day just cease to exist, quite comforting.

[bolivar]

This is an incredibly beautiful lesson! And a saint who had already been dead and resuscitated couldn't have written it better! It reminded me of these words by Denise Levertov:

" Poetry has a social function; it is to awaken sleepers by other means than shock".

This lesson is such a tender way of waking us all up. May be we should watch this every morning!

For friends who want to stay awake, here is a little list:

1. The best movie I know about death is "Ikiru" by Akira Kurosawa.The first scene is the X Ray image of a tumour in the stomach of a Japanese bureaucrat, who had wasted his entire life until then, working on a job that meant nothing to him. But after finding out that he has stomach cancer and less than a year to live, he really makes the best out of his life. He finds meaning in serving people in a very beautiful way. I won't tell you how:-)


2.Watching the "grave digger scene" by Hamlet every now and then helps to restore perspective. It's on youtube . That's where he says:

"Imperious Caesar, dead and turned to clay,
Might stop a hole to keep the wind away."

3. Probably the best " death bed simulation" one can go through is reading the book" The Death of Ivan Ilyich" by Tolstoy. It is absolutely horrifying, but necessary I guess...

4. In a documentary about his life, existential psychiatrist Irvin Yalom says that every time a new patient comes, he does the following:

He draws two lines on a paper: one is for your birth, one is for your death. Then he says you should mark the place you find yourself in life now, between those two lines. And then he asks you:

-10 years from now, when you look back, what do you want to see?

It is a much more effective way of asking " who do you want to be from now on".


5. Yalom is also the writer of an excellent book called " Staring At The Sun: Overcoming the Terror of Death". The sooner you read that book the better! It will definitely improve the rest of your life.


6. If you want to know more about the process itself, there really is a book called " How we die". Written by Sherwin Nuland, an American surgeon and writer who also taught medicine and bioethics at the Yale University.


7. We should read Fernando Pessoa's poem " Birthday" ( Aniversario). It tells us that when someone we love passes away, life will never be the same again. Our happiness will never be complete again. It is incredibly sad, but it is good to remember it now. Before they are gone...One more reason to be always kind. Because we tend to treat our most beloved ones with less care, assuming that they will always be here with us anyhow.

8. There is a book called "The Top Five Regrets of the Dying". It is written by an Australian nurse Bronnie Ware, who spent many years caring for patients in the last few weeks of their lives. She says that people's regrets at the end of their lives are all very similar. Just to know what those five things are, you must at least read the article on Guardian about it.

9. İn case you get too scared after reading all this, here is a consolation for you:

Even if you are not religious and can't hope to be united with God, it is still quite realistic to see death also as a release from all the misery, sorrow and pain of this world. In this case you must listen to:

- J.S. Bach's wonderful Cantata " Ich freue mich auf meinen Tod" ( I am looking forward to my death )
- Queen's " Who wants to live forever".

- But my favourite death song is" Quando Corpus Morietur" by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. Poor guy died when he was only 26 from tuberculosis...It is a truly wonderful, wonderful piece of music...

[arianrahman]

i talk like a 5 year old when i talk about this channel to other people ... despite being a rather shy introvert

[MindNow]

Putting things in perspective and that we will one day die, will make us appreciate the things that we have today. Being grateful for every single thing we possess and making the best out of everything, makes your life much better.

Winny out...for now ;)

[MichaelJayValueInvesting]

Once people realize that one day they are going to die is when most people start taking their life seriously. You have one shot to achieve what you want out of life, don't waste it!

[sixact]

"Be grateful for what you have and stop complaining - it bores everybody else, does you no good, and doesn't solve any problems." - Zig Ziglar

[theodorul]

As traumatizing as this is, the acceptance of the idea and aknowledging it, the fact that you could die while reading this...
If you've made it, consider yourself lucky, cuz you freaking are. I wouldn't waste that ''luck''.
Have a good life!